[Event "Hastings Masters"]
[Site "Hastings"]
[Date "2009.01.01"]
[Round "5.1"]
[White "Jones, Gawain C"]
[Black "Kurnosov, Igor"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B23"]
[WhiteElo "2548"]
[BlackElo "2606"]
[PlyCount "74"]
[EventDate "2009.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "England"]
[BlackTeam "Russia"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "ENG"]
[BlackTeamCountry "RUS"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 e6 3. f4 d5 4. Nf3 d4 5. Bb5+ Bd7 6. Bxd7+ Qxd7 7. Ne2 d3 8.
cxd3 Qxd3 9. Qa4+ b5 10. Qb3 Qxe4 11. Qxb5+ Qc6 12. Nc3 Nf6 13. O-O Bd6 14. Ne5
Bxe5 15. fxe5 Nd5 16. Nxd5 exd5 17. Qe2 O-O {Diagram #} 18. b4 $2 {Gawain must
have had something in mind, but I am not sure what. As far as I can see, this
move simply loses a pawn.} ({Gawain's Grand Prix Attack had yielded no
advantage, but he would not be worse after a moce such as} 18. b3 {Instead, he
had what looks like a rush of blood.}) 18... cxb4 19. Bb2 Qe6 20. Qh5 Nc6 21.
Rae1 d4 {I fear that round about here, Gawain must have had the immortal words
of Private Frazer ringing in his ears: "We're doomed, Cap'n Mainwaring, quite
dooooooomed!"} 22. d3 Qxa2 23. Bc1 Rae8 {Black is just two pawns up, for
nothing at all.} 24. Re4 Re6 25. Rh4 h6 26. Bf4 Rg6 27. Bg3 b3 28. e6 b2 29.
Qb5 Rxe6 30. Rh5 a6 31. Qb7 Na5 32. Rxa5 Qxa5 33. Qxb2 Qc3 34. Qb1 Re2 35. Qb7
Qxd3 36. Bd6 Qe3+ 37. Kh1 Re1 0-1

[Event "Hastings Masters"]
[Site "Hastings"]
[Date "2009.01.01"]
[Round "5.3"]
[White "Berg, Emanuel"]
[Black "Bergez, Luc"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B01"]
[WhiteElo "2623"]
[BlackElo "2356"]
[PlyCount "47"]
[EventDate "2009.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Netherlands"]
[BlackTeam "Ukraine"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "NED"]
[BlackTeamCountry "UKR"]

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bc4 Bg4 5. f3 Bf5 6. Nc3 a6 ({This line
doe s not really have a great reputation at GM level as it is, but if it is to
be playable at all, I suspect the more usual} 6... Nbd7 {should be preferred.
The text has been played before, but not at a high level, and Berg gives a
fairly good clue as to why this is.}) 7. g4 $1 Bc8 8. g5 Nh5 9. d4 b5 10. Bb3
g6 11. Nge2 Bg7 12. Nf4 Nxf4 13. Bxf4 Nd7 14. Qd2 {As Yasser Seirawan is fond
of saying in such positions, "White has the extra pawn and the compensation"}
Nb6 15. Be5 O-O 16. Qf4 Ra7 17. a3 Qd7 18. h4 {Having led the black king up
the steps of the scaffold, Berg picks up his axe, to administer the coup de
grace.} Bb7 19. Bxg7 Kxg7 20. h5 Raa8 21. O-O-O Rad8 22. hxg6 fxg6 23. Qe5+ Kg8
{Diagram #} 24. Rxh7 1-0

[Event "Hastings Masters"]
[Site "Hastings"]
[Date "2009.01.01"]
[Round "5.13"]
[White "Williams, Simon Kim"]
[Black "Lock, Gavin R"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D15"]
[WhiteElo "2494"]
[BlackElo "2252"]
[PlyCount "49"]
[EventDate "2009.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "England"]
[BlackTeam "England"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "ENG"]
[BlackTeamCountry "ENG"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 a6 5. h4 {The the best of my database's
knowledge, this is a novelty. Indeed, after his 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.h4!? of
tworounds ago, it is the second h2-h4 novelty that Simon has played in this
tournament.} h6 ({THis does not appear stricktly necessary. The immediate} 5...
dxc4 {was a natural alternative.}) 6. g3 dxc4 7. Ne5 b5 8. Bg2 Bb7 9. a4 e6 10.
O-O Nd5 11. e4 Nxc3 12. Qf3 $5 (12. bxc3 Nd7 {leads to a normal Catalan-style
position, with about equal chances. With the text, White tries to provoke a
weakness on the kingside, before recapturing the knight.}) 12... Ne2+ 13. Kh2 {
Consistent.} Qf6 (13... Qc7 {looks a trifle more natural, but Lock has the
idea to take the initiative on the kingside himself.}) 14. Qxe2 g5 $6 {Black
allows himself to be provoked into "punishing" the move 5.h4, but with so
little development, the idea is optimistic, to say the least.} 15. Ng4 Qxd4 ({
And this is taking the optimism altogether too far. Black should try} 15... Qd8
{although Iwould still rather be White.}) 16. Rd1 Qg7 17. Bd2 Be7 18. axb5 {
Suddenly, Black's position is falling apart.} O-O 19. Bc3 f6 20. Qxc4 Kh8 21.
hxg5 hxg5 22. Rh1 Qf7 23. Kg1+ Kg7 24. bxc6 Nxc6 25. Nh6 1-0

[Event "Hastings Masters"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2009.01.02"]
[Round "6.2"]
[White "Gordon, Stephen J"]
[Black "Berg, Emanuel"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D08"]
[WhiteElo "2521"]
[BlackElo "2623"]
[PlyCount "30"]
[EventDate "2009.01.02"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e5 {The Albin is an extremely rare guest at GM level, although
the mercurial Alexander Morozevich has used it successfuly on a few occasions.
I cannot trace any examples of Berg playing it before, so it must have come as
a complete surprise to Stephen Gordon.} 3. dxe5 d4 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. a3 ({One of
the main lines, although I cannot help feeling that such non-developing play
ought to give Black greater tactical chances than thesolid} 5. g3) 5... Nge7 6.
b4 Ng6 7. b5 $2 ({THis seems to be a novelty, but an unsuccessful one. The
usual move here is} 7. Bb2 {and, only after} a5 {does White advance} 8. b5)
7... Ncxe5 8. Nxd4 Bc5 9. Bb2 (9. e3 Bg4 10. f3 (10. Be2 Bxe2 11. Kxe2) (10.
Qd2 Nh4) 10... Qh4+ 11. g3 Nxf3+ 12. Nxf3 Qf6) 9... Qh4 (9... Nxc4 {is also
good, but Berg's move is still more energetic.}) 10. e3 Bg4 11. Qc2 (11. Be2
Nxc4 {is yet another example of the tactical tricks Black has in this position.
}) 11... O-O-O 12. Be2 $2 ({Losing immediately. He had to try} 12. Nd2 {
although even then,} Rhe8 {leaves Black with the sort of position that would
warm the cockles of a gambiteer's heart.}) 12... Bxe2 13. Qxe2 Bxd4 14. Bxd4
Rxd4 15. exd4 Qxd4 0-1

[Event "Hastings Masters"]
[Site "Hastings"]
[Date "2009.01.02"]
[Round "6.5"]
[White "Rendle, Thomas"]
[Black "Jones, Gawain C"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B30"]
[WhiteElo "2385"]
[BlackElo "2548"]
[PlyCount "52"]
[EventDate "2009.??.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. b3 {There have been several examples of this move in the present
tournament. In the past, both Spassky and Short have employed it as an
occasional weapon, and with considerable success, but it is probably best
reserved for games against weaker opponents.} Nf6 3. e5 Nd5 4. Bb2 Nc6 5. Nf3
g6 6. Ng5 {The start of an ambitious plan, which ultimately backfires.} e6 7.
Ne4 Bg7 8. c4 Nde7 9. Nd6+ Kf8 {Although Black's king is misplaced, this
causes him far less incoinvenience than that suffered by White, in the attempt
to maintain his central pawn structure.} 10. f4 Nf5 11. Nxf5 gxf5 12. d4 $6 ({
This and the next create a very strange impression, and leave White completely
busted. A move suchas} 12. g3 {would only leave Black with a relatively small
advantage.}) 12... Nxd4 13. Nd2 $6 f6 14. Nf3 fxe5 15. fxe5 Bxe5 $1 {
Completing the demolition of the white position.} 16. Nxe5 Qh4+ 17. g3 Qe4+ 18.
Kf2 Qxe5 ({White could only dream of} 18... Qxh1 $4 19. Qh5 {After the text,
however, all illusions are shattered, and the rest is an execution.}) 19. Qd2
Qf6 20. Bg2 d6 21. b4 e5 22. Ba3 f4 23. bxc5 Bg4 24. gxf4 Qh4+ 25. Ke3 Bf5 26.
Raf1 exf4+ 0-1

